Dutch speed skater Sven Kramer has skated his fastest ever time for the 3000 metres whilst training in the 2010 Winter Olympics' host city, Vancouver.

On the Richmond Olympic Oval, he clocked a time of three minutes, 40 seconds and 51 hundreths of a second. The fastest he has ever skated this distance.

This makes him two seconds faster than Italian skater Fabris and six seconds faster than teammate Bob de Jong.

Three kilometres is not an official Olympic distance. The speed skating races will begin in Vancouver next Saturday. Sven Kramer is favourite to win gold in the five and the 10 kilometre races.

Dutch energy company and sponsor Essent was prevented last year from using Sven’s name in combination with Vancouver in its promotion, as the Olympic Committee wanted to protect the name of the Olympic Games and the Canadian city. As a result, the “Svencouver” campaign had to be changed to “Svenergy”.